Another session of extra volunteer time to sort and cull wheels. Fight against entropy is never ending. Some more tired wheels were condemned to scrap in order to make room for modern aluminum rims and stainless steel spokes.
[a first here at OG2W...guest post]
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by Julia Wrona:
Pearson Constantino was preparing to fulfill his lifelong dream of cycling across America when he was hit from behind by an SUV, which then fled the scene. Despite his helmet, Pearson suffered serious and permanent injuries including a shattered femur, a crushed vertebra, and a head injury. The Long Bike Back, a feature length documentary, follows his grueling recovery and his inspiring ride across the United States with his brother, Pete, encouraging people to get back on their bikes and advocating for road sharing.
by Pearson Constantino:
After college, living in New York, I rode my bike everywhere, to work, for exercise, for fun, I felt great, until one morning a stranger changed my life. I was hit from behind by an SUV which fled the scene, my bike totally destroyed, my body badly injured. But after two weeks in the hospital, I had resolved to get back on my bike and fulfill my childhood dream of riding across the United States.
Two years of rehab later that’s exactly what I did. With the help of my brother Pete we embarked on a cross-country adventure on our bikes to encourage people to get back on their bikes and drivers to share the road.
Julia Wrona
One of the many things that makes me proud to be associated with Austin’s Yellow Bike Project is our attempts to walk softly on the earth. We’re not perfect but we try very hard.
I was recently reminded of the little things we do while trying to explain to someone why our “front yard” looked so wild. We recently applied for and received wildlife habitat certification. This means that the land around the shop has the essentials for wildlife: food, water, shelter, place to raise young, etc. A casual glance at the front of our shop reveals what looks like lazy people who don’t like to mow and trim. Closer examination, especially over time, reveals a plant succession taking place. Pioneer plants being slowly replaced by native and adapted communities. A diverse insect population. Birds and squirrels. Lizards. Haven’t spotted any snakes but I’m sure they’re somewhere close. Wildflowers, trees, vines.
The great thing is this land is recovering (albeit slowly) from being an electric power substation. Compacted soil. Probably a few chemicals I don’t want to think about. My inner ecologist (ecology scientist not environmental wacko) is smiling.
We also run a community garden in the back, complete with composting system. Not a huge affair but it does provide some food. This is also helping bring the local soil back into balance and health. We had bees at one point but the elementary school next door complained and our bee mistress moved them to another community garden. At some point it would be great convince the school that properly husbanded honey bees are no threat to children. Sigh.
A large part of our small footprint is the design of the shop building. Heating and cooling are passive. Once you get the doors and windows open, this place actually becomes comfortable, even in Austin summers. The south side of the building includes a pergola that was intended to serve as an arbor for deciduous vines. Shade in summer, sun in winter. The soil around the building is so compacted our vines have had a rough time. So we recently installed temporary shade cloth and have a small project to rehabilitate the soil to get the vines going.
We also rented out a portion of our roof to Austin Energy. They installed a set of solar panels which generate electricity to the city grid. We get a small amount of cash and the city gets “clean” energy from our south-facing roof. At some point in the future it would be great to add our own panels to reduce our electric demand, especially during peak hours.
The other huge impact we have is keeping old tired bikes out of the landfill and rivers. While we don’t operate as a metal recycling operation, we do salvage as much metal as we can. Any frames or components that are unusable or repairable go to metal scrap recycling. Some of it ends up at the Austin Bike Zoo, where it is turned into fanciful bicycle art and mobile creations.
We do generate a lot of rubber waste from unusable tires–would be nice to find a beneficial use for this material. And I think we can handle our hazardous waste (oil, lube, grease, solvents, paint) a little better. We participate in the city’s single stream recycling program and we take bulk cardboard (when it isn’t used for signage or labels) to a local non-profit that assists homeless people.
A little smug, with an awareness that we can do better. Besides there is that whole human-powered transportation thing going on.
Sorting Wheels
Put in some extra volunteer time at Yellow Bike this afternoon. I’ve had this project on my to-do list for some time and needed to make some progress. It was driving me crazy. We have too many wheels.
We get wheels donated all the time. We’re running out of storage space. One of the problems is that we tend to keep wheels that will probably never see a bicycle again. So I started culling out the rejects and reorganizing the remainder. Got about a third of the way through.
Now we have some more scrap to be sent for salvage. There were some tough decisions. I used a complicated algorithm to make my decisions: deformation of rim, significant rust, seized hubs, galvanized spokes, etc. Some in this pile still had some potential for useful life…maybe with a lot of hard work. But the sacrifice was necessary to make room for less seasoned wheels that have a reasonable chance to roll again.
I will shed some tears this evening for some of these tired old warriors. Then I will think of them no more.
Another Customer
Got another wheel customer this afternoon. Needs two rear wheels rebuilt. Ordered the spokes and nipples today. I’m using spoke blanks that I will cut and thread myself. He’s ordering the rims. Can’t wait to get started.
Old age sucks
Good news…bad news
The great thing about big square city buses is that they block the wind. The bad news has something to do with lung destroying diesel fumes.
The good thing about a headwind going somewhere is that it usually means a tailwind coming back. And so it was on today’s ride to downtown for Viva Streets Austin.
Ciclovia
Viva Streets is a fledgling attempt to duplicate the ciclovias of south America, where large sections of streets are closed to automobile traffic during certain times of the month. This allows other forms of transportation and activity to reclaim the streets, if only for a little while.
In this case that means 6th Street from Brazos to Robert Martinez. Walking, cycling, skateboards, scooters, dancing, exercise stuff, et cetera, et al.
What street festival would be complete without the Austin Bike Zoo.
“Bicycles.” I suppressed my sarcastic self when asked if I “spin.” I desperately wanted to tell them that their bicycles were missing a second wheel.
It was humid…good thing it was hot
Music, beer, fellowship. A balmy evening after the first truly hot day of the year. Celebration.
Rex had fun.
Because I am retired, I “work” at home. So I can’t bike to work.
Part of Bike Month is something called bike to work day. Like many other cities, Austin has a slate of events, including breakfast stations and afternoon beverage stations. There is also a ribbon cutting ceremony for a recently completed segment of separated bikeway downtown. Today is about celebrating those intrepid souls who ride their bike to work. Some of them ride significant distances. Kudos. Congrats. Pedal on.
While I applaud those who bicycle to work, I grow weary of the promotion and advocacy. Cute videos like this and this (I know a couple people in this one). Food stations. News reports. Press releases. But there is a small problem. All the promotion and celebration is chasing a goal that is a long way away, at least here in Austin. Housing and employment distribution, development patterns, lack of robust public transportation are headwinds against significant mode shift toward bicycles. Bike to work promotions also ignore the low hanging fruit of non-work automobile travel: short trips for shopping, errands, entertainment, etc.
It also ignores the invisible bicycle commuters. The ones who have no choice, who bike because they can’t afford a car. They ride on cheap bike shaped objects or poorly maintained used bicycles. They bike without lights and helmets. You can see them pedaling upstream on the sidewalk or on the wrong side of the road. They’re just trying to get from A to B. They’re not celebrating or being celebrated.
I’m not biking to work today.
For want of a nail…
My step-daughter is riding in the Real Ale this weekend. She asked me to look at her bike to make sure it’s ready. It was in good shape, just needed a few minor adjustments, some chain lube and air in the tires. Everything was going well until I got to the rear brake. As I was tightening the cable anchor the bolt stripped. Don’t know if I over torqued the bolt or it got cross threaded during last maintenance. When I removed the bolt to investigate a bunch of aluminum thread came out with it.
I removed the brake and headed to the nearest local bike shop. On the way I was entertaining myself with thoughts of worst case. What were the chances that the LBS had a stock of piece parts for various brakes? I could just hear the service representative suggesting purchase of a new brake. Now what are the chances that they had a the right brake in stock?
I was pleasantly surprised when the service representative turned out to be a bike mechanic. We’re in luck. He pondered the brake for a few minutes and then walked into the parts area mumbling something like “let me see.” He came back out with a set of taps and proceeded to rethread the anchor. Found a new bolt and presto…operational brake. I thanked him profusely and headed back to the house to reassemble the bike.
On the return trip I began to ponder why I didn’t have a set of taps in my toolset. Have to put that on the wish list.
Texas Wildlife
When I got back to the house I found this fellow sunning himself on the driveway. Don’t know if he was just hanging out or wanted to offer bike fixing advice. He didn’t stick around long, slithering off into the bushes, probably in search of things to eat. Or maybe just some peace and quiet away from annoying bike mechanics.
